Woodscape Artistry

a-registration-2008-felt-workshop.doc

Join us for an exciting textile adventure. Students will have the opportunity to study the craft of Turkish felt making at the shop of internationally renown felt master Mehmet Girgic. Students will get the feel of the everday life of the craftsman. There will be opportunities to travel about the interesting city of Konya as well as into the Taurus Mountains to see other textile craftsmen and women at work. Enjoy savory Turkish quisine and other Turkish treats. Get ready to have your eyes filled with color and patterns everywhere you look!

Mehmet Girgic and Theresa May-O’Brien will be teaching a series of 3 1-Day workshops in Felt & Natural Dye making. The classes will be offered at the home studio of Sharon Janda. This studio is located in Potomac, Maryland. On April 21, students will techniques and recipes for natural dyes while working with previously mordanted wool yarn. On April 22, students will explore Mosaic techniques for felt using prefelted wool canvas and prefelts. On April 23, students will explore the Osman technique for felt, learning to craft hand rolled wool drawing material and following with inlay work. The price for all classes is $100/day. Please conact Sharon for more information.

sjanda@verizon.net

Next Meeting: THIS IS A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.

Friday, APRIL 18, 2008 FELT AS ART – MEET THE ARTISTS

MEHMET GIRGIC AND THERESA MAY – O’BRIEN

Focus Pointe Global
Two Logan Square
18^th & Arch Street Suite 500 Philadelphia, PA

 RSVP: e-mail: Rabinovic@aol.comOr by telephone: (215) 627-4135 Parking: Between the Four Seasons hotel and  2 Logan Square

$10.00 or street parking.Social hour is 6:30 to 7:00 PM and lectures start at 7:00. It is important that you RSVP this meeting by e-mail: Rabinovic@aol.com or by telephone 215.627.4135

BACKGROUND:This lecture is about the revival of felt making as a contemporary art and the opportunity to meet the skilled artists that made it all possible.If you have ever been interested in Felt Making/Felt Art this is an opportunity to see some unique contemporary pieces inspired by an old age technique. If you have some felt pieces, please bring it to the meeting.About the artists…. MEHMET GIRGIC Mehmet Girgic has been a felt maker since he was a teenager, as were his father and grandfather before him. He keeps traditional and ancient felting techniques alive by creating Kece (carpets), Kepeneks (shepherd’s cloaks) and Sikki (Dervish hats). He has researched and revived many traditional felting methods and has passed on his knowledge to fiber artists who flock to his studio to learn from the Master. His work has been featured in Felt; New Directions for an Ancient Craft and National Geographic. Mehmet has taught classes in the United States and Europe, as well as in his workshop in

Konya, Turkey. THERESA MAY-O’BRIEN Theresa has been an artist since her childhood in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, inspired by the culture, seasons, and fabric of her rural roots. As a landscape watercolorist she studied under artist/teacher Jack Flynn and became a noted artist in her own right. Her creative inquiry took her into the fiber arts where she applied the eye of a painter to spinning.

elNow an accomplished feltmaker, Theresa has studied with the Old World master felt makers of Scandinavia, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary and Turkey where she has traveled and lived, learning both the methods and the culture of the felting tradition. Theresa’s work has reached new artistic levels through mentorship under master feltmaker Mehmet Girgic. She has been a teacher and lecturer throughout the northeast

United States on both the craft of felt making as well as the cultural bridges that can be built through art. Theresa currently lives and teaches on her small farmstead in upstate

New York. Felt is the oldest fabric known to humankind. It predates weaving and knitting, although there is archaeological evidence in the

British

Museum that the first known thread was made by winding vegetable fibers on the thigh. In Anatolian Turkey, the remains of felt have been found dating back at least to 6500 BC. Highly sophisticated felted artifacts were found preserved in permafrost in a tomb in

Siberia and dated to 600 AD. Feltmaking is still practiced by nomadic peoples in

Central Asia, where rugs, tents and clothing are regularly made. Some of these are traditional items, such as the classic yurt, while others are designed for the tourist market, such as decorated slippers. In the Western world, felt is widely used as a medium for expression in textile art as well as design, where it has significance as an ecologically sensitive textile.

 

Leture and slideshow presented by Mehmet Girgic & Theresa May-O’brien

The International Haji Baba Society

Washington, DC

April20,2008

3:00PM
for more information: www.ihbs.org

of the International Hajji Baba Society

DATE: Sunday, April 20, 2008; 3:00pm

LOCATION: George Mason University, Arlington Campus, Arlington. Original Building, 3401 Fairfax Dr., Room TBA

SPEAKER: Mehmet Girgiç and Theresa May-O’Brien

TOPIC: Turkish Felt Rug Making and Dyeing

Textile artists Mehmet Girgiç a dyer and feltmaker from Konya, Turkey, and Theresa May-O’Brien, a feltmaker from rural New York, will speak about their handcrafted wool textiles and the processes used to create this work. They will speak about wool, dyes, weaving and felt making. Their traditional techniques have evolved at the Girgiç shop, becoming more contemporary with threads to the past. There will be examples of both weaving and felt work. A slide show will offer a glimpse into the stages of this family business as they take the wool from the sheep to create remarkable artwork for the body and home.

Mehmet Girgiç was born in Konya, Turkey. At the age of thirteen, Mehmet joined his grandfather, father and uncle in the family felt business. In 1987 Mehmet was given the responsibility to replace all the sikkes (whirling dervishes hats) at the tombs of Jelaleddin Rumi and his followers in the Mevlana Museum in Konya, and he now looks after and maintains them. Because of his work with the sikkes, Mehmet is known worldwide as one of the remaining traditional sikke makers.

After 25 years of research, Mehmet has gained master status in wool identification and natural dye processes for textiles. Mehmet has also expanded his research to identify and bring back some of the old kilim and carpet designs. His kilims, rugs and felt work use natural dyes that recreate the colors of traditional old Turkish carpets. Mr. Girgiç has taught and lectured widely including at Oxford University, Osnabruk University as well as in Germany and in many universities and craft centers in the United States. His work has been discussed in HALI, National Geographic and other publications. An example of his work:

Theresa May-O’Brien has been an artist since her childhood in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, inspired by the culture, seasons, and fabric of her rural roots. As a landscape watercolorist she studied with Jack Flynn and became a noted artist in her own right. Her creative inquiry took her into the fiber arts where she applied the eye of a painter to spinning and felting. Now an accomplished feltmaker, Theresa has studied with the Old World master felt makers of Scandinavia, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary and Turkey where she has traveled and lived, learning both the methods and the culture of the felting tradition. Theresa’s work has reached new artistic levels through Mehmet Girgiç’s mentorship. She has been a teacher and lecturer throughout the northeast United States on both the craft of felt making as well as the cultural bridges that can be built through art. Theresa currently lives and teaches on her small farmstead in upstate New York.

DIRECTIONS TO GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY ARLINGTON CAMPUS
(3301/3401 Fairfax Dr., Arlington):

From Washington, DC Cross over the Key or Roosevelt Bridge; follow signs to the George Washington Parkway. Once on the parkway, exit at Spout Run (left exit). Cross over Route 29 (Lee Highway). Spout Run is now Kirkwood Road. Cross over Washington Boulevard. The Arlington Campus is on the right, at Fairfax Drive.

By Metro, take the Orange Line to the Virginia Square/GMU station. Take the escalator to the street level, and turn to face Fairfax Drive. Across the street and to the right, you will see the FDIC building. The Arlington Campus is next door.

For a map of the campus, see: here

FREE STREET PARKING IS AVAILABLE

Mehmet Girgic & Theresa May-O’Brien

3 Day-Osman Technique for Felt Workshop

Studio of Nancy Schmitt Westmisnter,MD

April 25.26.27 2008

$400 Includes: Workshop, materials and all meals

For registration and more information please contact:

Nancy Schmitt: turkeyfootcats@aol.com

Registration is limited to 6 students

Mehmet Girgic & Theresa May-O’Brien will be participating

at the World Culture Family Day : Turkish Delight

We will be depmonstrating all day and we will have feltwork for sale

May 3, 2008

11:00-4:00

Join us for a day-long celebration of the rich culture of Turkey,a land with magnificent past, and vestiges of more than a dozen successive civilizations spanning 10,000 years! Come explore the :Grand Bazaar”, enjoy traditional folk dance with Kardelen Turkish Dance Ensemble, sample Turkish cuisine and experience the many wonders that Turkey has to offer. The day is co-sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation, The Turkish American Friendship Society of the U.S.(TAFSUS), the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. Free with museum admission donation. Information: 215/898-4890

http://www.museum.upenn.edu/news/events/calitem.php?which=1524

location: Penn Museum

3260 South Street

Philadelphia,PA 19104

Varrious types of Turkish Rug textiles will be on display including; Felt, Knotted Carpets, Tulu, Yastik, Yatak.

Show will be held at The Inn at Shaker Mill Farm located in Canaan, New York.

The show will run from February 8-12, 2008

Meet the artists Mehmet Girgic of Konya, Turkey and Theresa May-O’Brien of Oneonta, New York on Sunday February 10 from noon til 10pm.  Wine , cheese and Turkish cuisine prepared by artist Mehemt Girgic.

Contact fro more details: Theresa 1-607-435-5215 or Tricia 1-518-794-9345

Our studios in Oneonta New York and Konya, Turkey offer handcrafted felt/ carpet/ kilims as well as felting supplies and Felt making Instruction. Contact for more details: felter508@yahoo.com or thefeltmaker@yahoo.com

 

Traditional village woven rugs produced for use in the home or by shepherds in the mountains. These pieces were chosen for their simple designs and the use of naturally colored wool. These knotted carpets come from the
Karapınar region in Turkey. They make ideal rugs for floors, children’s rooms, picnics. We have variety of sizes and each piece is a one of a kind piece of craftsmanship, no two are alike ! A catalogue of all pieces will follow soon, keep checking the website for more updates!